The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In The Mailbox: 07.21.23 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | July 21, 2023 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.21.23 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Oppenheimer, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Escapes Judgment at Chappaquiddick, and Manhattan
Twitchy: Katie Hill Tries Shaming GOP For Hunter Biden Pics And LOL, also, “Maybe If Biden’s Granddaughter Moved To Florida He’d Actually Visit Her”
Louder With Crowder: Jason Aldean’s anti-woke “Try That in A Small Town” rockets to #1 on the iTunes charts, “Nothing to apologize for”, “Great Movie!”: Donald Trump hosts Sound of Freedom screening, praises the filmmakers, and Elon Musk brags about the power of his farts, gets Community Note’d about them
Vox Popoli: Long Covid is Long Vaxx, Science is Observably Unreliable and Challenge: Define Intelligence
Stoic Observations: I Hate Florida
Flappr: How To Prostitute Yourself For Twitter Bucks

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Every day is a spiritual battle
American Conservative: Jason Aldean & Outlaw Country, also, The Democrats Need Kennedy
American Greatness: The Biden Family Caricatures, also, Doubts and Questions About Biden Will Only Grow
American Thinker: America’s Degradation Is No Accident, Is Sound of Freedom the Next ‘Shot Heard Round the World’?, Trump Doesn’t Need to Unite the Republican Party to Win the Election, and Our Defense Secretary’s Repeated Failures Humiliate Our Nation
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Stupid Is As Stupid Does News
Babalu Blog: Reports from Cuba: The bureaucracy of death in Cuba, a nightmare for families of the deceased, Mexico can’t have it both ways, and The European Union needs to stop supporting Cuba’s oppressive dictatorship
BattleSwarm: Movie Review: The Death of Stalin
Behind The Black: Venezuela officially signs onto Red Chinese lunar base project, SpaceX gets license to provide Starlink service to Malaysia, ISRO successfully tests propulsion system of Gaganyaan’s service module, Red China’s Kuaizhou-1A rocket launches four satellites, Arizona State University loses major donor for its anti-first amendment actions, and Real pushback: Stanford Law forces out administrator who aided and abetted a mob
Cafe Hayek: Bhattacharya and Kulldorff on the War Against Covid, also, In Defense of Allowing Collusion
CDR Salamander: Diversity Thursday
Da Tech Guy: Review of the revival of The Who’s Tommy at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Don Surber, You’re Wrong On This, Thank you Ware Massachusetts Police for speaking up against Governor Healey’s gun control bill, and If You Told Me Mexico Would Do This Just A Few Years Ago I wouldn’t have bought it
Dana Loesch: There’s Nothing Controversial About Jason Aldean’s Song
Don Surber: Running For President, Inc. 
First Street Journal: Odd question: will LGBTQ+ population decrease with end of Affirmative Action?, Philly District Attorney who doesn’t enforce existing gun laws wants “bipartisan, common-sense gun control legislation”, and More bullets fly in Philly!
Gates Of Vienna: Sweden Opts For Total Submission, also, “I’m Fed Up With the Denial of Reality”
The Geller Report: IRS Whistleblower Mr. Ziegler Confirms Biden Family Received $17 Million from Romania, China, & Other Foreign Countries In Just 5 years, Obama Comes Out, Pushing Gay Porn in School Libraries, and BOMBSHELL: Senator Grassley Releases FBI Document Showing Joe BIDEN was Involved in $5,000,000 Ukraine Bribery Scheme
Glenn Reynolds: Some Notes On Fitness
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Sibling Planets?, and All The News That’s Fit To Print
Hollywood In Toto: Woke Barbie Drowns In Feminism & Lectures, Tim Dillon Drops Brutal Truth Bombs on Woke Hollywood, Strikers, and Cobweb – Silly, Sophomoric and Undeniably Spooky
The Lid: Dan Bongino, Says White House DOES Know Who Brought in Cocaine, also, Confidence in American Colleges is in Free Fall
Legal Insurrection: Joint Chiefs Chairman Nominee Soft Pedals His Prior Racist Policies in Confirmation Hearing, House Democrats Prove RFK Jr. Correct by Trying to Censor him at Censorship Hearing, Michigan AG Charges 16 ‘Fake Electors’ for Trump for Allegedly Trying to Overturn 2020 Election, Colorado Offering Free College for Students Who Want to Work in Certain Fields, Dem Rep. Rosa DeLauro Calls Republicans ‘Terrorists’ for Targeting LGBT Related Spending in Bill, and VA Governor Glenn Youngkin Implements K-12 Transgender Policy That Emphasizes the Role of Parents
Nebraska Energy Observer: Presidential Politics, Elections, and the Great Republic, also, I hardly know
Outkick: Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Matt Dermody Tells OutKick’s Tomi Lahren He Won’t Bend Knee To Rejoin Woke MLB, Vikings Rookie Wide Receiver Jordan Addison Cited For Going 140 MPH In His Lamborghini, Majority Of OutKick Fans Rooting Against US Women’s National Team At Women’s World Cup, Patriotic Olivia Dunne Shows Off Flexibility By The Pool In Latest NIL Deal, Browns Can’t Determine Sex Of Their Brownie The Elf Mascot, and Lane Kiffin Destroys NIL And ‘Legalized Cheating,’ But Still Has To Play The Game Until It’s Fixed
Power Line: “All roads lead to Joe”, Fast Car in Age of Stupid, and FBI Burisma Document Released
Shark Tank: Soto & Salazar Join Hands To Protect Military Spouses From Deportation
Shot In The Dark: Every Single Conversation, also, You Say You Wonder
STUMP: 2022 Top Causes of Death in the U.S. by Sex and Age Group
The Political Hat: California & Kids: Pronoun Punishment; Dead Daughter; Woke Work
This Ain’t Hell: Female recruit forced to shower and sleep between males who are “transitioning”; considered resigning, Uncomfortable Questions, and Transgendered servicemembers may skip deployment for up to 300 days, DOD memo
Transterrestrial Musings: Donald Trump, 54 Years On, Foresight’s Space Workshop, and Covid’s Origins
Victory Girls: The FBI Has Been Protecting The Bidens For A Long Time
Volokh Conspiracy: A Flawed “Popular Constitutionalist” Rationale for Disobeying Supreme Court Decisions, District Court Strikes Down Race Preference in USDA’s and SBA’s Contracting Schemes, “Busting the Durable Myth that US Self-Defense Law Uniquely Fails to Protect Human Life”, and Conservatives Should Not Be Surprised By Justice Kavanaugh’s Voting Pattern With Chief Justice Roberts
Watts Up With That: Renewables Versus the Grid at PJM, Don’t Be Fooled! Here’s How NOAA Perpetuates A Climate Crisis Rainfall Myth, Kerry Returns from Red China without a Climate Deal, or Even a Meeting with Xi, and In the Heat of Climate Change Drama, Spain May Choose Its Own Path
The Federalist: Jason Aldean And Country Music Are Standing In The Way Of The Left’s Total Cultural Hegemony, CNBC Declares Top Destination States For American Movers The ‘Worst’ Places To Live And Work, As Michigan Charges Trump Electors With Felonies, Recall How Leftists Everywhere Urged 2016 Electors To Defect To Hillary, Biden’s Nominee For Top Pentagon Job Is An Unapologetic DEI Activist, Obamas, Clintons Didn’t Have Porn In Their Kids’ School Libraries But They Want That For Your Child, and FBI Told Twitter Hunter Biden Laptop Was Real When New York Post Story Broke, Then Hid Behind Big Tech Censors’ ‘Disinfo’ Smear
Mark Steyn: Wokesplanations

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 07.21.23 (Live At Five Edition)

Posted on | July 21, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This would have been last night’s post, but after the long drive back from Las Vegas in 100+ degree heat, I went to bed and didn’t wake up until an hour ago.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: How Should A Woman Respond To Four Home Invaders?
EBL: Where is Sam Brinkman-Fried Holing Up?, also, Oregon’s Democrat Governor Kate Brown Freed A Serial Killer and Let Him Kill Again
Twitchy: Mitt Romney Posts Cringe For “National Hot Dog Day”, also, Shannon Watts Big Mad At Jason Aldean For Telling Her What She Didn’t Want To Hear
Louder With Crowder: CMT cancels Jason Aldean’s new controversial anti-woke video, but the singer refuses to back down, also, Joe Biden mumbles his way through a meeting so badly, even the Israeli president is like “Dude, what the hell?”
Vox Popoli: Red Flags Waving, also, Better Stick with Cash
Gab News: Being Happy Where You Are

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Nicholas Kristof: A Faulty Prophet
American Greatness: FBI Tried to Stop FBI Whistleblower From Telling Oversight Committee About Bureau’s Misconduct During Hunter Biden Probe, also, The Latest in Teacher Union Ugly
American Thinker: Georgia’s Newest Republican is a True Social Justice Warrior, also, Senate Republicans Despise Their Voters
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: Cuba’s fake president vows to never ‘apologize for the right to be different,’ parrots slogans from Fidel and Che, also,  We need more candidates talking about Mexico
Baldilocks: Some Brain Wash, Going Long, Tomorrow, also, Taking The Opportunity
BattleSwarm: College Kids: “I’ll Be Making A Six-Figure Salary When I Graduate!” Reality: “LOL!”
Behind The Black: July 18, 2023 Quick space links
CDR Salamander: Why No Production Lines Can Go Cold
Da Tech Guy: FYI WQPH 89.3 FM Shirley Fitchburg only available as stream for the next week or so
Don Surber: You Have No Choice But Trump
Gates Of Vienna: Taking Pride in Her Work, also, “We Have Been Lied To”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Going to a Heavy Metal Asteroid, and I’m Not Making This Up, You Know
Hollywood In Toto: Lesbian Comic Judy Gold: I Was Canceled by LGBTQ Group
The Lid: The Exodus 1947: The Real Story
Legal Insurrection: Iran-Backed Hezbollah Releases Video of Simulated Attack on IDF Border Post, “The racialization of medical education and medicine constitutes a national emergency”, Judge: DOJ Request For Mid-December Trump Florida Trial “A Bit Rushed”, and Federal Courts Allowing Secret Social Transitioning in Schools, Rebuff Parents’ Rights
Outkick: LSU Basketball Star Angel Reese Continues To Parlay Her Celebrity Into Attention, Throws First Pitch At Baltimore Orioles Game, Division-III College Unveils Brand-New Turf Field That Will Make Athletes’ Lives Miserable During Summer, and Clay Travis Asking Tim Tebow The Virginity Question At SEC Media Days Turns 14 Years Old
Power Line: Woke Kindergarten
Shark Tank: City of Miami Commissioner Covo Pushes Not-So-Green Measure
Shot In The Dark: I Love A Happy Ending, also, A Matter Of Trust
STUMP: Taxing Tuesday: Texas Tax Cut and Twitter round-up
The Political Hat: Learning About Propaganda
This Ain’t Hell: Convert to electric they say, it’ll be easy they say, also, Three More Accounted For
Victory Girls: Washington State Closes Prison, Boasts Low Incarceration Rate
Volokh Conspiracy: Today in Supreme Court History: July 19, 1949
Watts Up With That: Will Wind Turbines Be Generating More Waste Than Electricity?, Are Green Investments so Lame they need Special “Green Banks” to Succeed?, and Neil Oliver: “Fear mongering” over high temperatures is an ‘incessant attempt to keep us frightened’
The Federalist: How The Left Weaponizes ‘Kindness’ To Manipulate You Into Giving Them What They Want, Biden’s DOJ Will Trigger A Major Crisis If Trump Is Indicted For Jan. 6, Corporate Media Forget Their Racist Past When Lecturing About Reparations, It Is Completely Reasonable To Wonder If Oppenheimer Was A Soviet Spy, and Get Race Quotas Out Of The Cockpit Before We Literally Crash And Burn
Mark Steyn: Birth of the New

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Category: Linkagery

‘Smoking Gun’ on Biden Bribery Scandal

Posted on | July 20, 2023 | Comments Off on ‘Smoking Gun’ on Biden Bribery Scandal

Press release from Senator Grassley:

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released an unclassified FBI-generated record describing an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a Ukrainian business executive. Grassley acquired the record, an FD-1023, via legally protected disclosures by Justice Department whistleblowers.
“For the better part of a year, I’ve been pushing the Justice Department and FBI to provide details on its handling of very significant allegations from a trusted FBI informant implicating then-Vice President Biden in a criminal bribery scheme. While the FBI sought to obfuscate and redact, the American people can now read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats, thanks to brave and heroic whistleblowers. What did the Justice Department and FBI do with the detailed information in the document? And why have they tried to conceal it from Congress and the American people for so long? The Justice Department and FBI have failed to come clean, but Chairman Comer and I intend to find out,” Grassley said.
“The FBI’s Biden Bribery Record tracks closely with the evidence uncovered by the Oversight Committee’s Biden family influence peddling investigation. In the FBI’s record, the Burisma executive claims that he didn’t pay the ‘big guy’ directly but that he used several bank accounts to conceal the money. That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer said. “At our hearing with IRS whistleblowers, they testified that they had never seen or heard of this record during the Biden criminal investigation, despite having potentially corroborating evidence. Given the misconduct and politicization at the Department of Justice, the American people must be able to read this record for themselves. I thank Senator Grassley for providing much needed transparency to the American people. We must hold the Department of Justice accountable for seeking to bury this record to protect the Bidens.”
Grassley first disclosed the FBI’s possession of significant and voluminous evidence of potential criminality involving the Biden family last year. He has since worked to unearth the FBI record, eventually partnering with Comer on a subpoena to compel its public disclosure. After delays, the FBI provided a highly redacted version of the document to select members of the House of Representatives, but it remained shielded from the public and omitted key details, including references to recordings. Following the FBI’s failure to fully comply with the congressional subpoena, Grassley received the legally protected disclosure with limited redactions to protect a trusted FBI source, handling agents, department whistleblowers and identifiers related to other ongoing investigations.



 

Category: Corruption, Joe Biden, Scandal

Orioles Face ‘Huge’ Series in Tampa

Posted on | July 20, 2023 | 1 Comment

Tyler Wells has thrown 105 strikeouts in 19 games

Last season, the Baltimore Orioles finished fourth in the American League’s East Division, and the year before that, they were fifth, losing 110 games. As of last night, however, the O’s were leading the AL East with a 58-37 record (.611), just fractionally ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (60-39, .606). As recently as July 1, Tampa had a 6½-game lead over the Orioles in the division, but Baltimore is 8-2 in their last 10 games, while the Rays, who jumped out to a strong lead early in the season, are 3-7 in their last 10 games. Everything will be on the line starting tonight when the O’s face the Rays in Tampa for a four-game series:

“It’s all you want. You want to get to the big leagues, and then once you get here, your goal is to win,” [Orioles left fielder Austin] Hays said. “That’s what we’re playing for now. We’re winning a lot of games right now. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve put ourselves in a good situation at this point in the season.”
The Orioles (58-37) visit Tropicana Field on Thursday tied with the Rays (60-39) for first place in the AL East. The last time Baltimore was atop the division this late in the year was August 2016 — the last season they made the playoffs. If the Orioles sweep the Rays, it would be their first time with a four-game lead in the AL East after the All-Star break since September 2014 — the last season they won the division. . . .
“We knew that all those losing seasons wouldn’t last forever,” [Baltimore first baseman Ryan] Mountcastle said. “It came quicker, I think, than most people thought, and we’re just excited to be where we’re at right now. This series is going to be huge, and we’re super excited for it.”

A few years ago, my son Jim became an Orioles fan, listening to them on the radio during his long drives home from contracting jobs. The past couple of years have been painful for Jim and the rest of the O’s faithful, and this season’s long chase of the Rays has been frustrating. There were times when Baltimore’s record would have put them on top of any other division in the major leagues, but there they were, stuck in second place in the AL East behind Tampa, which was playing .600-plus baseball for so long that it couldn’t last forever. Baltimore deserves credit for hanging tough for three months, waiting for the Rays to stumble. The big break came during a stretch earlier this month when Tampa went 3-5 while the Orioles put together a seven-game win streak. Then on Wednesday night, the O’s beat the Dodgers 8-5 while the Rays lost 5-1 to the Texas Rangers.

The Orioles have been led this year by right fielder Anthony Santander (.272, 17 HR, 54 RBI), catcher Adley Rutschman (.275, 13 HR, 41 RBI), left fielder Austin Hays (.304, 9 HR, 37 RBI) and third baseman Gunnar Henderson (.247, 15 HR, 41 RBI). Top starting pitchers for Baltimore are Dean Kremer (10-4, 4.80 ERA), Kyle Gibson (9.6, 4.77 ERA) and Tyler Wells (7-5, 3.54 ERA), with Felix Bautista (4-1, 1.00 ERA, 26 saves) as their bullpen ace. Gibson is expected to take the mound tonight. All the O’s need to do is take it one game at a time. Orioles fever — catch it!



 

Category: Sports

In The Mailbox: 07.19.23 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | July 19, 2023 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.19.23 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Oops.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Don’t Bring Garden Shears To A Gunfight
EBL: Snow White Looks Hilariously Bad
Twitchy: Rep. Adam Goldman (D-NY) Deems Hunter Biden The Victim Of A Two-Tiered Justice System, also, Daily Beast Disgusted With GOP Pouncing On Pramila Jayapal’s Antisemitic “Misstep”
Louder With Crowder: Leggy blonde emerges to save the day, drags eco-lunatics by the hair to stop them blocking traffic, Ron DeSantis GOES THERE, blasts Joe Biden refusing to acknowledge his granddaughter in South Carolina speech, and Jason Aldean’s anti-woke anthem “Try That in a Small Town” is causing quite the media meltdown
Vox Popoli: They’re Going to Need an Older Universe, Pharasaism is not Pre-Christianity, Learning from The Legend, Ancient Understanding, and The War Comes to the USA

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Time for a Taft Coalition
American Greatness: House Democrat Bill Would Scrub ‘Husband’ and ‘Wife’ from Federal Law, also, FBI Whistleblower: Investigators Were Told to Wait For Hunter’s Okay Before Approaching his House to Interview Him
American Power: U.S. Army Soldier in North Korean Custody After Crossing Border ‘Voluntarily’
American Thinker:  The Left Again Beclowns Itself Over White Supremacy, also, The Classic Psychology Text That Predicted Today’s Urban Decay
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Lightning News
Babalu Blog: Reports from Cuba: Disenchantment with the ‘state methods’ of a privatized bakery in Havana, Díaz-Canel’s Portugal visit was worse than we thought, and Cuban State Security hunts down mothers to prevent them from peacefully protesting
Baldilocks: Communication
BattleSwarm: Crimean Bridge Hit Again
Behind The Black: SpaceX to raise another $750 million in stock sale; earnings rise to $8 billion in ’23, Glacial evidence in the dry equatorial regions of Mars?, The results of one in four medical clinical trials are probably fraudulent or unreliable, and Ohio Attorney General to college administrators: Discriminate and YOU will be personally liable
CDR Salamander: Army TLAM & SM-6?
Chicago Boyz: You’ve Heard of Local Area Networks…
Da Tech Guy: Investigative reporting still exists
Dana Loesch: Monday Night 2024 Cranky Thoughts
Don Surber: The Riot That Sent My Family To The Suburbs
The Geller Report: Unvaxxed Amish Death Rates 90 Times Lower Than Rest of America, Florida County GOP Declares COVID-19 and mRNA COVID Vaccine a ‘Bioweapon’, and Muslim Billionaire Wins Permission to Turn London’s Famous Landmark in Piccadilly Circus Into Giant 3-Story Mega Mosque
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, also, CW Leonis
Hollywood In Toto: Is Disney Finally Getting the Picture?, Ellen Barkin: Trump Will Win, Kill 6 Million Jews (Like Hitler), and Fear the Night Delivers B-Movie Thrills (But Whiffs on More)
The Lid: Store Food While You Still Can – Global Famine Accelerates
Legal Insurrection: Georgia Supreme Court Unanimously Dismisses Trump Long-Shot Bid To Halt Grand Jury and Disqualify Prosecutor, Another Freight Train Derailment in Pennsylvania Results in Evacuations of Surrounding Area, Professor/Minister at Elon University on Mission to Preach That Abortion isn’t a Sin, Temple University Hosting ‘Philadelphia’s First Fat-Focused Convention’, and Oversight Committee: Former FBI Agent Confirms IRS Whistleblower Testimony About Biden
Nebraska Energy Observer: What’s going on in Europe, also, Impressed
Outkick: Diamondbacks Are Latest Team To Take Over Television Broadcasts, Russell Wilson Looks Stronger And Sharper While Throwing Alongside Deion Sanders At Colorado, Ric Flair Rips NBA Players Who ‘Whine And B—h,’ Draws Major Contrast To Pro Wrestlers, Brent Venables Takes Completely Unprompted Shot At Deion Sanders, Paul Finebaum Unloads Unhinged Nick Saban Take, Claims Legacy Will Be Damaged If Alabama Misses The Playoff, and Miss Hooters International 2023 Contestants Announced
Power Line: Confirming the IRS whistleblowers, Thermageddon Week, and The Daily Chart: Shocker—Biden Spending Underestimated
Shark Tank: Diaz-Balart Moves To Defund Smithsonian Over Inaccurate Portrayal Of Latinos
Shot In The Dark: It’s Almost As If There’s A Theme
This Ain’t Hell: Cadets at Ft. Knox have rough month, Today’s DOD Debacle Brought To Us By, and US Soldier Crosses Into North Korea
Transterrestrial Musings: Space Hookers Must Die, also,  “Toxic” Masculinity
Victory Girls: Military Does NOT Have “Sacred Obligation” To Pay For Abortion Travel
Volokh Conspiracy: Attempt to Block Comment About Critical Race Theory at State Bd. of Ed. Meeting Yields $89K Attorney Fee Award
Watts Up With That: BRICS and Nukes and LNG – the energy transition few are expecting, When Everything is Climate Change, Nothing is Climate Change, and YouTube suppressed this pushback video on heat wave alarmism – let’s give it a second life
The Federalist: Our Cultural Degeneracy Is Actually A Return To Normalcy, Republicans Had Better Reject Democrats’ NDAA Culture War If They Want Any Praise, In Iowa, Tucker Carlson Did The Job The Decaying Media Monolith Won’t, Biden Administration Rushes Appeal Against Court Ruling In Effort To Keep Censorship Regime Intact, Biden White House: Military Has ‘Sacred Obligation’ To Abort Babies With Your Money, and Trade Commission’s Retaliation Against Twitter Is More Proof The Biden Admin Is Violating The First Amendment
Mark Steyn: Trystless in Trieste

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Category: Linkagery

Just a Random Grandbaby Video

Posted on | July 19, 2023 | Comments Off on Just a Random Grandbaby Video

Got some day-job stuff to keep me busy this morning, and I’m thinking about doing one of my long, long posts that might take all day (or longer) to write. Glenn Reynolds recently shared “Thoughts on the Population Implosion,” which is a social problem that my numerous offspring have been doing their share to solve. And certainly, this is encouraging:

Who wouldn’t love a sweet little baby like that? And once you’ve got one sweet little baby, why not keep having more of them?

Oh, the experts tell us nowadays that economic conditions make parenthood more difficult, which makes me wonder why my Alabama farmer ancestors — who certainly had less money than most of these DINK (double-income, no kids) yuppies — had so many babies that the experts would say they “couldn’t afford” to have. It’s almost enough to make you think the “experts” are completely wrong.

Anyway, I was just looking for an excuse to post that cute video of baby Juniper, from my recent trip to Alaska. Any cultural commentary is more or less coincidental to my Proud Grandpa motives.



 

Category: Family

Don’t Believe CNBC’s Fake News

Posted on | July 18, 2023 | 1 Comment

Last week, CNBC issued two lists — “These are America’s 10 best states to live and work in for 2023” and “These are America’s 10 worst states to live and work in for 2023” — and these lists have been cited in dozens of headlines across the country. Just quickly scanning the lists, however, I noticed a distinct pattern. Here are the CNBC lists, to which I’ve added (a) the two U.S. Senators from each state, and (b) the percentage of the state’s vote received by Joe Biden in 2020:

10 BEST STATES
1. Vermont
Bernie Sanders (I), Peter Welch (D), Biden 66%

2. Maine
Susan Collins (R), Angus King (I), Biden 53%

3. New Jersey
Bob Menendez (D), Corey Booker (D), Biden 57%

4. Minnesota
Amy Klobuchar (D), Tina Smith (D), Biden 52%

5. Hawaii
Brian Schatz (D), Mazie Hirono (D), Biden 73%

6. Oregon
Ron Wyden (D), Jeff Merkley (D), Biden 56%

7. Washington State
Patty Murray (D), Maria Cantwell (D), Biden 58%

8. (tie) Colorado
Michael Bennet (D), John Hickenlooper (D), Biden 55%

8. (tie) Massachusetts
Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D), Biden 66%

10. Connecticut
Richard Blumenthal (D), Chris Murphy (D), Biden 59%

 

10 WORST STATES
1. Texas
John Cornyn (R), Ted Cruz (R), Biden 46%

2. Oklahoma
James Lankford (R), Markwayne Mullin (R), Biden 32%

3. Louisiana
Bill Cassidy (R), John Kennedy (R), Biden 40%

4. (tie) South Carolina
Lindsey Graham (R), Tim Scott (R), Biden 43%

4. (tie) Alabama
Tommy Tuberville (R), Katie Britt (R), Biden 37%

6. Missouri
Josh Hawley (R), Eric Schmitt (R), Biden 41%

7. Indiana
Todd Young (R), Mike Braun (R), Biden 41%

8. Tennessee
Marsha Blackburn (R), Bill Hagerty (R), Biden 37%

9. Arkansas
John Boozman (R), Tom Cotton (R), Biden 35%

10. Florida
Marco Rubio (R), Rick Scott (R), Biden 48%

 
What a coincidence that every senator from CNBC’s “10 worst states” is a Republican, and Trump won every one of those states in 2020. And by the same remarkable coincidence, Biden won every one of CNBC’s “10 best states,” which have 17 Democratic senators, two “independents” (both of whom caucus with Democrats) and the nominal Republican Susan Collins. But can it really be true that, e.g., New Jersey is a better state “to live and work in” than, e.g., Florida? Is there anyone in Winter Haven or Apopka who would rather be living in Camden or Newark?

How is it possible that CNBC has classified among the “worst” states not only Florida but also Texas, both of which are among the fast-growing states in the country? How is it so much worse to “live and work” in sunny South Carolina or Louisiana than in chilly Vermont or Minnesota?

CNBC explains its rankings by citing “ten broad categories of competitiveness,” which are weighted into the final score: “The more weight a category carries, the more metrics it includes. This year’s study employs 86 metrics across the ten categories.”

The second most-weighted category is infrastructure, accounting for 15.6% of the total score and in assessing this category, “we measure each state’s sustainability in the face of climate change.” Oh.

The real kicker, though, is the “Life, Health & Inclusion” category, which accounts for 14% of the CNBC score:

With workers in short supply, companies are seeking to locate in states that can attract a broad array of talent. That makes quality of life an economic imperative. We rate the states on livability factors like per capita crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. We look at worker protections. We look at inclusiveness in state laws, including protections against discrimination of all kinds, as well as voting rights, including accessible and secure election systems. With studies showing that childcare is one of the main obstacles to employees returning to the workforce, we consider the availability and affordability of qualified facilities. And with surveys showing a sizeable percentage of women considering reproductive rights in deciding where they are willing to live and work, we factor abortion laws into this category as well.

Got that? Fourteen percent of a state’s score in the CNBC ranking comes from this bullshit category, an excuse to penalize conservative states while rewarding liberal states for “inclusiveness,” “voting rights,” etc. This is basically like taking the All-Star Game out of Atlanta because Biden said requiring ID to vote is “Jim Crow 2.0.”

While awarding 14% on the basis of things like “inclusion,” CNBC gives only 8.6% weighting to the category “Business Friendliness” and just 2% to “Cost of Living.” It’s expensive as hell to live in Massachusetts, and comparatively cheap to live in Tennessee. And guess which state’s government is more business friendly? (Hint: Not Massachusetts.)

The underlying bogusness of CNBC’s methodology — weighting the categories in such a way as to favor Democrat-controlled states — is overlooked in the secondary coverage of the CNBC lists in regional media (“Texas is worst state in the U.S. to live in for issues like abortion and voting rights, CNBC says,” San Antonio Express-News; “Indiana included on list of ‘America’s 10 worst states to live and work in’,” WISH-TV).

So far as I can tell, I’m the only guy on the Internet pointing out how bogus CNBC’s rankings are. It’s “fake news,” and no one should trust it.



 

Category: Media Bias

In The Mailbox: 07.17.23

Posted on | July 18, 2023 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.17.23

— compiled by Wombat-socho

I have VA appointments on Wednesday as well as an NSSAB meeting, so posting may be a little irregular for the rest of the week.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

Calendar reform

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Pay No Attention To The Child Labor That Goes Into Your EV Battery
EBL: The Dogs of Chernobyl, also, Critical Drinker: Why Hollywood Will Collapse
Twitchy: Matt Walsh Reveals Brilliant Johnny The Walrus Troll, Schools See The Result Of Eliminating Advanced Math Classes For Equity, and John Kirby Claims Abortions Are “Foundational Sacred Obligation” Of The Military
Louder With Crowder: Kamala Harris demands the population be reduced in today’s episode of “Freudian Slip or Embarrassing Gaffe?”, Sports Illustrated goes nuts over Brittney Griner’s dunk, gets roasted, and Bystander helps put an end to a police chase… then just gets back in his truck and bounces
Vox Popoli: Preposterous!, Business When the Bubble Bursts, Material Greed vs Spiritual Wickedness, Tell Me You’re a Ticket-Taker, and Clown World Won’t Quit
Gab News: Nurturing A New Christendom

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Better to be a racist than to have abos rule over you
American Conservative: What Do the French Riots Mean?, also, Joe Biden and the DNC: Some Kremlinology
American Greatness: ‘Not My Concern” Narrows the GOP Field, Disinformation: Doing Putin’s Job for Him, and It’s Time To Acknowledge America’s Education Crisis
American Power: In Rolling Hills Estates, Million Dollar Homes Slide Down the Canyon, The 2024 Election Is a Fight Over America’s Way of Life, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., In Hot Water After Comments Suggesting Chinese and Jews Were Spared Covid
American Thinker: Tucker Carlson Helps Cull the Republican Presidential Field, God’s Children Are Not for Sale: Why the Left Hates Sound of Freedom, 10 Paradigm Shifts that Shatter Establishment Illusions, and Defense Policy and the Social Issues: Who Started This Fight?
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: The EU invites Cuba’s oppressive dictatorship to CELAC, continuing its bad policies, Shocking! Rationed sugar sold to Cubans is disgustingly awful, How Cubans in Cuba refer to July 11, two years after massive protests were crushed, and The Texas Political Report with George Rodriguez
Baldilocks: Asking For It
BattleSwarm: Nicholas Moran Rates Realism of Tank Scenes in Movies (Again), also, Why Homelessness in California is Worse Than In Other States
Behind The Black: SpaceX launches using its second Falcon 9 first stage on its sixteenth flight, Chandrayaan-3 completes second orbital maneuver, An apparent rocket section washes up on Australian coast, Rocket Lab launches seven satellites; recovers first stage from ocean, House committee imposes major cuts to Justice, FBI, Commerce Departments, and California Democrats retreat on their effort to defend child slavers
CDR Salamander: Summer Doldrums Melee On Midrats , also, Seaplanes Bring Out The Worst In The Potomac Flotilla
Chicago Boyz: The End of Science Education in the West?
Da Tech Guy: Republicans find their spinal cord when it comes to DoD abortion, A Sad Thought on a Good Story, Under the Fedora: Competence Rules, Russia Mistakes, Islam vs Alphabet in Michigan, Racism Shortage…Except in AI, and The Subsidies Don’t Cover Repair Bills
Don Surber: When Ray Charles Culturally Appropriated Eddy Arnold
First Street Journal: Saturday morning, Theodore Johnson says the quiet part out loud, and Another story you won’t find in The Philadelphia Inquirer
Gates Of Vienna: Nicolas Bay: “We Will Have to Choose: Either Your Sanctimony or Our Identity”, Don’t Romanticize Volodomyr Zelensky, Whale Tale, Taharrush in Heidelberg and Mallorca, and The EU Pays Protection Money to Tunisia
The Geller Report: Pray for America’s Children, Final Death Blow To Pence Presidential Campaign, and And BAM! It’s No Longer an Insurrection
Hogewash: Stressful Cities, LEDA 89996, Here’s Looking at Euclid, Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, IC 4701, and Don’t Know Much Biology
Hollywood In Toto: Scorching Sound of Freedom Eyes $100 Million (and more), WaPo Blistered Over Woke ‘Fast Car’ Spin, and A.I. Movies Bring Industry’s Mortal Fear to Life
The Lid: RFK Jr. Makes Anti-Jewish Conspiracy Theorist Comments At Political Dinner, also, Biden Gets Fish-Slapped By Twitter’s ‘Community Notes’
Legal Insurrection: Donor Pulling $400K Gift to Arizona State U. Citing ‘Left-Wing Hostility and Activism’, Pittsburgh Couple Indicted for Disrupting Michael Knowles Event May Have Ties to ‘Anarchist Extremists’, Rhode Island State Senator Who Allegedly Keyed Man’s Car Now Facing an Obstruction Charge, Rep. Katie Porter, Who Hates Big Banks, Silently Erased Her Job at Ocwen Financial Corporation, Activists at Harvard Disrupt Ice Cream Social to Demand Creation of Ethnic Studies Department, and Ex-Energy Official Sam Brinton was on Tax-Payer Funded Secret Trip at Time of Luggage Theft
Nebraska Energy Observer: Mental health day, also, Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Outkick: NFL RBs, OJ Simpson Sound Off On Lack of Respect For Position After Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley’s Failed Contract Talks, Stephen A. Smith, Dan Le Batard Feud Over Who Ruined ESPN, Sports Media, Brittany Mahomes Says She ‘Was Not Prepared’ For NFL Fame, Kate Upton Joins Threads, Drops Bikini Photo, Cincinnati Reds Manager David Bell Goes OFF On Umpire In Potential MLB ‘Ejection Of The Year’, and Former ESPN Legend Tim Brando Wonders What The Hell Is Happening At Ex-Employer
Power Line: Five Essential Truths About the Modern Left, Sunday morning coming down, and Biden then and now
Shark Tank: Is America Ready For A Trump/Donalds Ticket In 2024?
Shot In The Dark: A Nation Of Boogeymen, also, Weasel Words
This Ain’t Hell: Kerry in the News, Republicans fight woke initiatives through Defense bill; accused of ‘living in the 1950s’, Some Veterans quit Florida State Guard, the program had changed from what was advertised, City Council Fires HR Commissioners for Pride Flag Display, and A veteran, and a couple of National Guard members, were among the officers involved with a violent traffic stop
Transterrestrial Musings: The Internet, And Freedom, Commercial Space Legislation, Squatters, and Obama’s Russian Doctrine
Victory Girls: Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) Bashes Alaskan King Crab For Military, Nancy Mace Makes Another Butthole Statement, and Trudeau Insults Muslim Parents Over LGBTQ Curriculum Objections
Volokh Conspiracy: New Statistical Evidence Supports the “Minneapolis Effect” as an Explanation for Increases in Homicides
Watts Up With That: Guardian: Climate Activists can Overcome Greed by Shouting Louder, Climate Activists are Targeting Billionaire Toys, Why Global Warming Lawsuits Deserve to Fail, Dishonest Climate Fear-mongering headline of the week goes to USA TODAY, and Politico: Chinese Emissions are Cancelling Biden’s Efforts to Save Us from Climate Change
The Federalist: Somebody Tell Planned Parenthood Summer Camp Is For Good Clean Fun, Not Sex Ed, It’s Joe Biden, Not Tommy Tuberville, Who Brought The ‘Culture War’ To The Military, Black Mirror Season Six Gets Sucked Into The Black Hole Of Modern Leftism, Ron DeSantis Heads To CNN To (Hopefully) Confront Jake Tapper, The Most Dishonest Man On Cable News, and The Lifestyle Of Climate Radicals Tells You All You Need To Know About Their Sincerity
Mark Steyn: No Joke, Punch Cards and Picket Lines: Jean Arthur in The Devil and Miss Jones, and Smile (Ton sourire est dans mon coeur)

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